Herpes, please explain

ddmom

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 10:10 am

There are 2 type of herpes.

Children can and do get herpes which is a virus on skin. It's very contagious.
Once it's in your body you have it for life and a flares up happen if person is stressed or very tired.
P.s: fever blisters/cold sores on lips are usually herpes. Don't kiss anyone that has one.

giftedmom

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 10:15 am

As others said there’s genital herpes and oral herpes. Oral herpes is what kids get. Many times it’s very painful the first time they get it, they won’t eat for a couple days etc. some people do the goat milk remedy and if the child is over 2 you can numb their mouth temporarily so they can eat something. After the first time it stays in their body so they can’t catch it from anyone else.

amother

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 10:25 am

giftedmom wrote:

Ok thank you.

My newly married sister just told me that her husband has either herpes or hand foot mouth. I got a bit nervous.
She said he had herpes as a teenager.
Thanks for explaining.
Is the treatment for herpes the same as hand foot mouth? The doctor only gave him cream

amother

Ecru

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 10:41 am

amother OP wrote:

Your newly married sister seems like she is crossing some boundaries.

amother

Whitewash

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 11:22 am

Hsv1 usually appears in/on the mouth, is extremely common and mostly benign. Once you have it, it can be reactivated at any time but especially during times of illness or stress. It can also spread to the genitals. Most people have it at some point and carry it dormant / reactivated for the rest of their lives.

Hsv2 is only on the genitals and is considered an STD. It is much more rare.

amother

Skyblue

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 11:28 am

I got oral herpes twice - both times when I had a bad case of strep. The sores showed up in the same places (lips and nose) and the second time the doctor explained to me that once you get it, it lives dormant in your blood for the rest of your life and can flare up in times of stress, lowered immunity, etc.
I was prescribed Valtrex and it took care of it for me. I was also told that in the future, if I feel myself starting to get sick/feel them flare up, I should start taking valtrex asap to help manage it.

amother

Cantaloupe

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 11:36 am

amother OP wrote:

Those are two different viruses.

amother

Darkblue

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 2:44 pm

giftedmom wrote:

After the first time it stays in their body so they can’t catch it from anyone else.

You make this sound like some kind of immunity. It’s not immunity, it’s a chronic infection. It can come back again and again without needing to be spread from another person ever again.

The child is also then at risk of spreading the virus to other people for the rest of their life.

giftedmom

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 3:08 pm

amother Darkblue wrote:

Potato potahto
What’s your point?

amother

Whitewash

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 3:19 pm

amother Darkblue wrote:

It does provide immunity from catching it anew, ideally the body keeps up a maintenance level of antibodies so it doesn’t come out of dormancy. A reactivation is a sign that immunity is suppressed for some reason.

amother

Ecru

Thu, Sep 21 2023, 6:25 pm

amother Azure wrote:

Why? Newlyweds are allowed to talk to and ask for advice from their siblings.

Unclear what advice is being sought here. DH seems to be dealing with the issue just fine - not sure why sister needs seek advice on what cream he should be using.

amother

Topaz

Fri, Sep 22 2023, 9:05 am

amother OP wrote:

And this is exactly why my kids pediatrician advised me not to tell anyone that my 2.5 years old child has herpes outbreak around their eye. Because people go right into the s-xual thinking. I can’t believe that when you googled the transmission, you didn’t see results for the Herpes simplex 1. It’s a very common virus. About 67% of the world population under the age of 50 had HSV-1. There’s absolutely no reason to suspect your BIL in being s-xualy deviant in his teenage years. Because I have a feeling that that was your concern. I’m sorry if I’m mistaken.

It was their first outbreak and it was horrible. All area around one eye was covered in sores. So obviously it was very visible and elicited lots of questions. A very good immunologist put my child on the acyclovir for a year and after a few following smaller outbreaks, we haven’t seen it for the next 20 years. Unfortunately, with the stress of adult life, it got re-awaken in the form of the cold sores. Now they have a prescription for valacyclovir which they take at the first sign of the outbreak.

amother

IndianRed

Fri, Sep 22 2023, 9:29 am

amother Topaz wrote:

And the one that can easily be misinterpreted, as we clearly see from the original post.

Yes. No reason for something to be shared. Unless this was about her sister. Or unless her husband specifically said please ask your sister advice about this. Otherwise it’s an invasion.

amother

Marigold

Fri, Sep 22 2023, 9:55 am

amother Topaz wrote:

When my 18ds was about 7 months old, he broke out on his face. It was diagnosed as herpes. Over the years, there were certain triggers, but we had medication. He hasn’t gotten it bh in a year or two. Not once, to my knowledge, did anyone assume it was an STD. I have no idea where he got it from, but we treat it and that’s it.